Walter Suggs obit

OBITUARY: William Walter Suggs Jr.

 He was not on the list.

This Labor Day, the world lost a great man and willing worker. William Walter Suggs, Jr. was born on Mother’s Day May 15, 1939, the son of WW and Ethel G. Suggs, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He was the sixth of thirteen children.

He attended Forrest County Agricultural School in Brooklyn, Mississippi and boarded there during high school. He always appreciated the guidance he got from the faculty and coaches at Forrest County. While there, he was an all state and all conference football player and played in the 1956 Mississippi High School All Star Game.

Walter went to Mississippi State University on a football scholarship in 1957 and graduated in 1961. He was an academic All SEC selection in 1958 and a Scholastic All American in 1959. He also played in the Senior Bowl and Blue Gray game. Walter was drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1961 which was appropriate because he had worked in the Mississippi oil fields while in college. He was the 24th pick in the third round of the AFL draft. Walter was an Oiler for ten years and was selected to the AFL All Star team in 1967 and 1968. He played in 137 consecutive games. Walter’s other honors included Houston Oilers All 30 Year Team in 1991, Mississippi State Hall of Fame in 1989 and The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

He played college football at Mississippi State University, and played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) for the Houston Oilers from 1962 through 1969, and for the National Football League (NFL) Oilers in 1970 and 1971. Suggs played in 137 consecutive games. He played in the first pro football game played in the Houston Astrodome in 1967. He was an American Football League All-Star in 1967 and 1968.

During the football off-seasons, Walter worked a variety of construction jobs to make ends meet. He enjoyed the construction business, so when he retired from the Oilers in 1971, he became a general contractor building houses in Montgomery County, Texas and Rutherford County, Tennessee. He retired from construction in 2012. Fishing was one of Walter’s favorite pastimes, and he was an active member of Open Lake Sporting Club in Lauderdale County, Tennessee. He was also a long-time member of First United Methodist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Aside from these activities and the care he took of his family, work and working was his favorite thing. He was always busy! He also loved his wife of 61 years, Emily Moorer of Henning, Tennessee, whom he recognized as his best friend until the end. Walter leaves behind wife, Emily; children, Camille Suggs Weisinger and her husband Scott of Montgomery County, Texas and Tray Suggs and his wife Jennifer of Rutherford County, Tennessee; grandchildren, Michael Weisinger, Beth Weisinger Taylor, Dr. Emilia Suggs and Beatrice Suggs; and great-grandchildren, David Taylor and Nolan, Lorali and Emmett Weisinger. Walter will be missed, but we can take comfort knowing he is at rest away from the pain and troubles of this world.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests donations in Walter’s memory be directed to Bethlehem Cemetery, Ann Tate 750 Henning Bethlehem Rd, Henning, TN 38041.

Services are being planned for a later date.